Mark of Briar
by Andrithir
Summary: Thorne wanted to make his mark, to feel that he had made a difference. Now he finally gets his chance... in a place that is not his home.


**A/N: This plot bunny just wouldn't leave me alone, so I felt the need… to write it.**

**Preliminary stuff, so nothing is really set in stone until I have an idea in where I want this to go.**

**Certain things will be portrayed differently, and I will twist things to certain ends. So weapons seen in Mass Effect 3 will also be making an appearance. Technically, they've been around before ME3 so yeah.**

**UPDATE: The Journal entry below is taken out of the Halo 4 Limited Edition, I didn't write the first part, but the guys at 343i did… and it's a journal entry so it's not going to follow the conventions of scripted grammar.**

**XXxxXX**

"_I'm a Spartan now, after months of surgery and training just so I could survive using the__armour__. So here I am, sitting on__Infinity__, sore as hell from the__War Games__runs today.__Commander Palmer__says we're on the line at 0500, but wouldn't say what to expect. I learned in the__Army__that when somebody high up wants you ready, but won't tell you why, it means a fight is coming._ _I was reading up on how, 500 years ago, a military group called the "__Air Force__" split off the Army to form its own branch. It got me thinking about how little Spartan history there is. I can tell you that__Carl Spaatz__was the Air Force's first Chief of Staff. But when I try to find out where__117__came from, there's nothing. Not his real name, or how he__trained__. I can't even find out for sure if there were other__S-IIs__. Some say there were, but others say the Master Chief was the only one._ _It's almost as hard to piece together the story of the__Spartan-IIIs__-just a__few mentions__from around when the__Covenant__hit Reach__._ _Us, though, the Spartan-IVs - we're official as can be. Like with Infinity, the UNSC press corps can't enough of talking about how we're the best of the best. But even then, there are rumours. Where we're stationed. How we're recruiting more to build our forces._ _Maybe someday, when I'm retired, I'll tell the real story of the Spartan-IVs. And I'll tell everyone how damn proud I felt tonight, here, on Infinity._

_But there's one story I will never tell... no one will ever understand it, and no one is supposed to know. Not even Palmer. She can never know that story. I'd rather die than endure it all again rather than tell her. That story, undermine how proud I should be becoming a Spartan-IV. I know I just contradicted myself, hell I shouldn't even be writing about this. I don't care, no one will understand but those who matter. I hope to god they're safe, wherever they are."  
__**-Gabriel Thorne's journal entry, February 6**__**th**__** 2558**_

**XXxxXX**

**UNKNOWN LOCATION**

Thorne winced as the light shone on his face. Instinctively he brought up his armoured hand and shielded himself from the harsh rays. He pulled himself up from the dirt and moved into the shade as unclasped the helmet from his rear hook and slid the piece over his head. He sighed in relief when the air began to cool down and regulate, allowing him to concentrate on his surroundings.

He was in some kind of quarry, beaten down by the relentless sun. His visor was polarised to the max to decrease the intensity of the light. There was heavy lifting equipment in the area that looked to be of human origin yet slightly alien. The similarities were uncanny however.

He looked around the site and noticed his suits radiological and temperature alarms ping red. The sun's intense rays generated a lot of heat and UV radiation. Anything unshielded would be cooked alive. Of course, the MJOLNIR was built for this kind of punishment, thus his shields were holding firm at full capacity.

_Glassman!_ Thorne's mind screamed.

He had been too concerned about finding out where he was that he forgot about the missing scientist. Logic dictated that if the artefact had claimed him and Glassman, both of them would've ended up here. But so far, Gabriel couldn't see any sign of the jittery man whom Palmer loved to call egghead.

_How'd she even get Command?_ Thorne wondered. He respected the woman and her care for the people under her command, but she came across as a really arrogant person. Sure it was funny watching her rip DeMarco a new one, but still… as far as he knew, she was just a Marine, who probably got Spec Ops crashcourse training. Like the ones he gave to militia resiting the Covenant.

Thorne stopped and took cover behind a large concrete pillar and regained his bearings. There was no satellite system here, so no GPS, but at least the planet had a magnetic field. He began to get the creeps about this place, he had been here for five minutes and no one had come out to greet him. This place was dead, deserted, and felt plain wrong.

_Find a communications device. Do not make contact. Unknown location, keep a low footprint_, Thorne said to himself.

Setting down the MA5D ICWS, Gabriel retrieved the SOPMOD kit from his pack. It is always good karma to wear combat webbings topped up with equipment whenever on duty. He slid the silencer onto the barrel, while replacing the torch with a grenade launcher and angled foregrip. He should've customised his weapon earlier, but he was sure Palmer and Lasky wouldn't appreciate him having a grenade launcher prepped and ready to go. Moving the ammo counter to the side, Thorne placed an ACOG sight uplinked to his armour on the upper rail. He quickly ran through the checklist and was satisfied with his weapon. This was the standard customisation he had when he was with Airborne.

Checking for the all clear, Thorne levelled his rifle and moved out. He was silently thankful that he had gone with the CIO variant of the GEN2, which meant lots of sensors and a newly improved, fresh off the line optical camouflage. Not as good as the Elites, but if Thorne was required to literally move in front of the enemy unnoticed then something was dreadfully wrong.

Engaging the optical camo, Thorne moved silently across the quarry while keeping an eye on his sensors. He decided to set his COM to receive as he approached a gate. This place was too quiet for his liking.

_Proximity alert!_ The HUD displayed.

Thorne eyed his sensor grid and found three unidentified contacts. According the layout from prelim and penetrating scans, the three was jumping from cover to cover. He decided to move to their position and shadow them. He wasn't going to make any rash decisions, only lie and wait until he could determine his situation.

He rounded a ravine, and walked up a metal ramp which led to a gate. The three entities were on the other side in a guard house preparing to pass the checkpoint. The massive metal barrier parted and allowed three armed figures to pass through. They were human, _thank god_. But Thorne couldn't help but noticed how they were dressed.

One was dressed in a form fitting catsuit, revealing a womanly figure that many men would lust after. She had black hair and had an angular beauty to her, by all standards she would be considered beautiful.

_Fighting in stilettos? That's even more stupid than fighting with a cape_, Thorne concluded. He wondered what the woman was playing at. She didn't even wear any armour.

The next person was just as bad if not worse. She had the correct footwear, but a halter top made of only belts? Gabe's armour wouldn't stop bothering him about the high radiation levels. At least her skin was covered in tattoos so it wasn't _that_ bad in terms of social decency.

_Being bald as well is not such a good idea on this planet…_

However the last woman, who appeared to be the leader, seemed to have her head on right. She was wearing multi-cam patterned armour with a red stripe on her right arm. She was also wearing a helmet which obscured most of her face. Like the Prometheans however, she was also encased in orange hardlight armour and a sword on her back.

_That's new… possible Innies, maybe? No, Innies can't afford that kind of get up._

He concluded that she had military experience, specifically Special Forces. And could be of help, but without knowing her allegiance, Thorne was going to lay low. They were his possible means of getting off the planet and finding out what was going on.

"Fan out, and we'll find Tali," the leader said.

"Yes Commander," the woman in the catsuit said. She had an Australian accent, a hybrid of the cultivated and general accent. Thorne's former squadmate in the 1st Airborne had spent hours educating them on what the differences were.

"Got it, Shepard," the one in the halter top said.

The three moved through the area, and stayed clear of the sun. Optical Camo did have its limitations, and that was direct high intensity lights. If Thorne wished to remained hidden, he too would need to stay within the shadows.

_Proximity Alert!_

Gabriel turned his gaze skyward and saw a curvaceous shaped craft. It bore a striking resemblance to the Covenant, except it was more elongated and grey. He kept his weapons trained on the craft to pick off anything that dared rear its head.

But much to his surprise, there dropship did not emit a grav-lift, instead its occupants dropped down onto the ground and kicked up dirt wherever they landed.

"Geth inbound! Miranda, take the left flank. Jack hold the right!" Shepard ordered.

_Got names with faces, good_… _why does Shepard sound like Palmer?_

What followed soon after would be something Thorne would never forget. The three women were wrapped in soft violet blue eldritch tendrils. At the flick of the wrist or sweep of an arm, something _spectacular_ would happen.

Shepard deployed a drone composed entirely of hardlight, it surged ahead of her to take the brunt of the Geth, while firing electric charges at the targets. The Commander literally propelled herself in a blue stream of light, before reappearing again in the midst of the enemy. Geth Troopers spun to face, but she let out a powerful roar and sent forth a blue sphere which knocked every high into the sky.

Miranda, whom had hung back, threw blue bolts at the targets dangling helpless in air. Upon impact, the Troopers were ripped apart in a powerful explosion and showered the ground with silvery "gore".

_Fight the Covenant, okay, not much of a big deal. Fight Innies who like to play dirty and send human bombs holding babies, fine. Fight the Flood, a nightmare but no problem. Fight the Prometheans who can teleport anywhere within range… damn. Watch three people with "what the hell is that?" abilities…. Fuck._

Thorne began running through a list of scenarios in his mind.

_I'm dead, and this is some weird after life. No, still got my gear. Okay, I'm sent to a Forerunner science facility. Possible. I'm at an ONI site, feasible. I'm in an alternate universe… yeah right, sure, totally._

Gabe made sure that his armour was recording this; the scientists would have a field day with this when he would get back, if he could get back.

He watched Shepard draw fire from the enemy, and detonated her hardlight armour. A powerful shockwave emanated from her and created a dent in the rocky surroundings while ripping apart the geth soldiers that were still standing.

Once the all clear had been given, Shepard ejected something from weapon with a slap before sliding another clip into the receiver. It was too small to be a magazine clip, and there were no spent shells lying in the sand. So that both ruled out "conventional" ammunition, but the weapons couldn't have been DEW either, because he heard the sharp sound of bullets breaking the sound barrier.

Thorne was becoming more confused as time passed. Scans from his armour showed that the weapons were weak comparatively to his MA5D. The damage done by Shepard's strange looking assault rifle was equivalent to a 5.56x45mm NATO. They seemed to be emitting a high heat signature, so he assumed the clips were thermal clips for cooling, but where would the rounds and the power source come from?

"C'mon, let's keep moving," Shepard beckoned.

The Spartan tailed the group; they knew how to handle themselves and were easily tearing into the Geth ranks with their strange abilities. He decided to hang back and reveal himself if the situation got dicey.

Shepard led the group up through a maze of buildings whilst remaining in the shade. Upon reaching a control room, she opened the main windows. Throne knew it was a bad idea the moment the shielding split apart. He found himself to be looking down a cheap Covenant Scarab knock-off.

"Well fuck," Jack swore.

"Down!" Shepard cried.

No one needed to be told twice as they braced themselves against the violent impact. Dust fell from the ceiling and rolled off Thorne, but thankfully the group hadn't seen him. They had already gone downstairs.

_That was too close._

Pushing himself off from the floor, Thorne made his way down onto the opening below. Shepard was already scolding a humanoid being for behaving recklessly.

"We don't have enough men for you to take one for the team," she scolded.

_Sounds like Palmer, probably looks like her… not her size, and more caring… about aliens? Meh._

Thorne was at the point of confusion now. The alien, had three fingers, and two claw toe, _things… things, real eloquent Gabe_.

It was also wearing an environment suit; at least someone else was smart. The Spartan was also sure that if Shepard hadn't been talking to the alien, he would've shot the guy or just left him there to die. The alien's injuries looked extensive.

He was beginning to rule out Forerunner Facility and ONI Research Site… that left… _shit. Alternate universe._

_Okay, Gabe, what the fuck? Alternate reality or universe? Are you listening to yourself?_

His temporary lapse in concentration almost cost him. His cover was nearly blown when Miranda and Jack turned to Shepard, forcing Thorne to duck behind the wall again.

"Stay here and give me cover fire," Shepard ordered.

The alien replied in his native language. Something that sounded like gibberish Hungarian and Russian, that being said, Thorne wasn't too sure if the sun had fried his translator. _What if the alien is actually speaking Russian?_

"Shepard, you're not serious are you?" Miranda asked.

Jack shrugged, "if she's going, I'm going."

_And get sunburnt… followed by skin cancer._

"Someone's gotta take that Colossus down," Shepard said.

_Colossus… surprisingly anticlimactic after meeting a Scarab_, Thorne voiced internally.

At the Shepard's orders, her team moved to the right, and hanged low. The air began to fill with an insurmountable volume of fire that it made it nearly impossible for Thorne to follow the team. Chunks of rock and bits of metal splayed onto the ground as they were dislodged by exploding rockets.

The geth had plasma weaponry, so at least there was something "familiar" about this place. They had greater muzzle velocity than their Covenant counterparts, but less punch.

"Stay close to the walls, and move after the Colossus has fired."

Thorne took the advice in full stride; suddenly shadowing the team seemed like a bad idea. Cover was getting extremely ropey. The three women were using their powers to create spherical energy shields to protect themselves, but it wouldn't last long.

He had to plan out his next moves carefully. He didn't have much in the way of being able to take out the gigantic mech, but he did see a missile launcher on the other side of the field.

_Break cover, give them a reason to trust you, and then play on from their… right. No._

Gabe rethought his plan of action, and opted to pick off any geth units hampering the teams approach. That would be easier. He found a nice discreet position to fire from, and crouched behind an L-shaped concrete block which shielded him from the sun, and offered decent protection against enemy fire.

Aiming down his sights, Thorne squeezed the trigger and scored a centre mass shot on a geth trooper. The MA5D hissed and the synthetic shuddered as the rounds destroyed its central processing unit and power core, reducing it to an empty shell. Shifting targets, the Spartan engaged a rocket trooper. One burst was all it took to deplete its shields and punch a cluster of sizable holes through the armour.

Satisfied that the fire had slackened off, Shepard led her team closer to the Colossus. Thorne kept his sights hovered over her as she unslung a menacing looking heavy weapon on her back, and zeroed in on the massive machine. He did not expect himself to be flashed when a powerful lance of electricity surged from the weapon and lash onto the Colossus before latching onto surrounding geth troopers. The intense firepower caused lesser units to fry and their circuitry melt. But the Colossus was far more resilient as it sustained a few more hits from the energy projector before succumbing to its damages.

From the shade, Shepard turned her gaze on Thorne's position.

_Shit._

"Whoever you are, we are grateful for the assist," Shepard projected clearly. "But come out slowly."

_What have I got to lose?_ Thorne shrugged.

_A lot_, another voice in his head said.

He ignored it, and slowly rose from cover as he decloaked. Stepping over the spent casings, Thorne climbed back down to the main area and weaved his way through the carnage while cradling his rifle. The Colossus's main gun certainly did a number on the place.

As he neared the three women, he found it difficult to identify their facial expressions. Miranda looked surprised but not shocked. That already said a few things about this place. Something _like_ him was already a common sight. Jack seemed indifferent; she had her arms crossed as she ran her eyes up and down the dark navy blue armour.

Shepard ignored her. "Identify yourself, soldier."

_Sounds just like Palmer… but she's not Palmer_.

Thorne towered over Shepard by at least a foot. He slowly turned his gaze down on the "small" figure for dramatic effect and spoke through the helmet's speakers. There was a neat function which synthesised the voice for psychological effect.

"Briar," he answered.

Under "normal" circumstances Gabe would've just left the three, but he wanted no needed answers. But he knew the ball was in their park now. He just wasn't going to make it easy for them.

"Faction?"

_They don't know what a Spartan is, meaning they're not UNSC or UEG. PMC maybe?_

It was a tense standoff. Thorne wasn't sure if he could take on all three at the same time, not with their special abilities.

"Spartan," a white lie.

Shepard tilted her head as if she was eying him suspiciously. Miranda looked at him with scorn. He wasn't too sure how he should react to the situation.

"What are you doing out here?"

"Crash-landed," Thorne lied, "trying to find a way to get off this planet."

"And what were you doing here?" Miranda asked.

_Damn, hoped she dropped a name, _Thorne said inwardly. "Orders are orders."

"And those orders were?"

"We weren't given mission directives. We only get them until we get planetside."

"Perseus Veil seems a bit far for Alliance jurisdiction," Miranda muttered.

_Alliance? What Alliance. Reveal nothing._

"Hey, you kids want to continue on chatting, or should we go grab Tali," Shepard sighed.

Thorne knew her ploy. As a gesture of good faith because off his actions, Shepard was going to play along for a bit, though he wouldn't doubt that she would turn on him the moment he gave her a reason to. Clearing out the remaining resistance was easy enough, just some minor stragglers here and there.

By the end of the hour, dozens of geth units lay defunct and strewn across the sunburnt plains. This Tali character was located inside a bunker where a squad of aliens similar to her lay dead outside. There were journal logs played over the PA, but Thorne had absolutely no idea what it was saying.

Snippets from the conversation between the women helped paint a hazy image about the planet. It was named Haestrom, former Quarian Colony, but abandoned because of the prematurely dying sun. Tali and a team of quarians were here to collect data on the sun, something about Dark Energy. But apparently the geth, whom bore a remarkable resemblance to the species, picked up their signature and attacked.

Watching the conversation between Shepard and Tali, Thorne could see a long standing friendship between them. It strong reinforced the idea that he was in an alternate universe… much to his dismay. He needed to find a way back home, and he needed to do so soon. But he wasn't too sure if he could trust these people. Hell, he was alone here and he knew it.

"Alright, let's get back to the _Normandy_," Shepard said.

Thorne realised the conversation had wrapped up, and now it was time to leave.

"Briar, need a lift?" the Commander asked.

_The hell?_ Gabriel was taken by surprise. "That would be much appreciated."

…

**ABOARD **_**NORMANDY SR-2**_

The shuttle ride to the awaiting stealth frigate was extremely tense. Thorne desperately wanted to know what was going on but he didn't want to give himself a way. Looking out of the viewport, he could see the starship gliding silently in the endless void.

It was sleek and powerful, but it looked a lot like a luxury yacht back home. _Normandy_ sported an orange-black livery on her hull. There was something distinctly lethal about the ship.

Docking inside the hold, Thorne felt the dampeners kick in as the shuttle was locked down inside. The hatched opened allowing everyone on board to disembark. There were a few technicians around, giving him strange looks.

Everyone headed off for their respective locations, but Shepard hung back and looked at Gabe directly in the eye.

"Briar, follow me."

_I've just walked into a trap, great. Her ship, her rules._

Thorne was a careful person, it was drilled in his nature to watch his step wherever he went. It saved his life more than he bothered to count. He had started out in the UNSC Army, and then quickly signed up for Airborne. Being a natural with tech both familiar and alien, Gabriel had quickly earned his place amongst the famed 1st Airborne Division.

After a few years of "military service" and the attack on New Phoenix he had enlisted with the Spartan-IVs. He had hoped to be able to save more lives. But being on _Infinity_ he couldn't help but feel disheartened at the anticlimactic work. As a Spartan it was his duty to safeguard the interests of humanity. Of course he really didn't believe that, it was hard to after what he had seen.

In his mind, he saw the Spartan-IVs as shocktroopers, gung-ho Marines on steroids. He missed working with his old team, he missed unconventional warfare. Well he didn't miss it in the sense that a person would miss something dear. There was nothing nice about asymmetric warfare in urban environment. But fighting on Requiem had been unfulfilling at most. Sure the fighting was tough, but it always felt undermined by the attitudes of Madsen and DeMarco.

He felt like he should've joined up with another Supersoldier outfit entirely. Sooner or later, humanity was going to have all of its Special Forces become Supersoldiers, that was a given. The Spartan Branch wasn't going to remain unique forever. Sooner or later, it would dissolve back into its former units or restructure for different tasks entirely.

Now that he thought about it, Paramilitary would've been a far more "rewarding" task. Sure he would get his hands dirty, but at least he knew he would be making some kind of difference. He needed to feel like he was making a contribution of some kind. He didn't feel that becoming a Spartan-IV was going to avenge the memories of his friends and families on New Phoenix. The words of Doctor Catherine Halsey had struck something inside of him.

The mastermind behind the Spartan Program disapproved of the Spartan-IVs. He could hear it in her voice and see it in her eyes. She said 'some were closer than others', which meant that she did not see the IVs as a uniform group, but one that was dangerously diverse. He couldn't fault her there.

"In here," Shepard beckoned.

Thorne quickly pulled himself out of his thoughts and looked inside the room.

"Sit down," she ordered.

Gabe looked at her.

"If it can support a Krogan, it can support you."

Thorne eased himself into the dainty chair and took in the sight of the room. It was a interrogation room, and funnily enough, it was far more decorative than his quarters on the _Infinity_.

Shepard took the seat opposite to him, and as a sign of goodwill, she removed her helmet and placed it down onto the table. She had brown eyes, deep chocolate brown hair and a face that was near identical to Palmer's. But instead of seeing a shell of arrogance, Shepard' demeanour inspired hope and courage to those who had none. No soldier can ever say they leave war unscathed, everyone bears scars.

Gabriel followed suit and popped the air seals with a hiss. He gently eased his helmet off and placed it on his lap.

"You're not from here, are you?"

**XXxxXX**

"_There's a trend I've been noticing, a lot of the First Airborne are generally transferred over to ONI Section III for Black Ops or ONI Advance Reconnaissance Group or ONI Special Operations Group. Maybe I should've signed up with the Paras instead of Spartan. Palmer is a good leader and all, but she's not the type you'd follow into hell. She's someone I respect, but not someone I would look up to. It would've been nice if they got someone with more admirable qualities leading us, like Commander Craig Grayson. I've served with him before being shipped out to _Infinity_, nice man. Always make sure that you're good."  
__**-Gabriel Thorne's journal entry February 7**__**th**__** 2558**_

**XXxxXX**

**A/N: So like I said before, this little plot bunny had been bothering me lately. So I decided to write this.**

**A few things that need to be addressed, in terms of canon, this is not related to **_**Lost Legacy**_**.**

**This story mainly focuses on Thorne… and maybe the Chief at a later date (with the rest of Blue Team).**

**Will ONISAD make an appearance? Probably not, though they've grown on me so who knows.**

**Anyway, please leave a review and tell me what you think.**

**UPDATE A/N: I'm fully aware I used the term "Paras", today, the term is also used for Paramilitary. I think it's safe to assume that since Paratroopers are "obsolete" the term para would be applied more for Paramilitary.**


End file.
